Genre: RPG
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Hothead Games
Release Date: Spring 2008

It is exceedingly rare that the journalistic side of gaming crosses over into development. Most of us writer types don't know the first thing about creating a game, and many developers are so busy tweaking physics collisions and character renders that they don't have time to rail against the very things they create. All that's about to change, though, as the world's most popular webcomic is going interactive with Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1. Microsoft gave the press a good look at the game with the exceedingly long title at this year's GDC, and anyone with even a passing fancy in video games needs to be on the lookout for this title.

Your life in the Penny Arcade universe begins quietly enough. Players create a character, who is then rendered into not only the game's 3-D engine, but all the 2-D cut scenes as well. The day begins with an overly wordy narrator (in what I assume to be a gentle dig at the long-windedness of most RPGs) waxing philosophical until he realizes that your yard is such a mess that he just can't go on until you get a rake and clean up. No sooner do you pile up your leaves than a giant mechanical fruit f***er stomps your house, utterly destroying it. Gabe and Tycho are in hot pursuit of the beast, and you are left standing on the curb, slack-jawed and homeless.

At this point, the demo skipped ahead a ways in the game, and you find yourself now teamed up with Gabe and Tycho and on the hunt for a new apartment. You head over to the local slum, and the landlord gives you the choice of three apartments. After examining each filthy, unlivable room, you return to find a previously locked door now open, and you discover an awful secret: The landlord is collaborating with the fruit f***ers, and the apartment complex is nothing but a front for an illegal hobo sweatshop.

Then, we got to see Penny Arcade Adventures' combat system in action, which is mainly a turn-based affair, with some active time elements. Anyone who's played Final Fantasy X will be instantly familiar. You choose your actions while your time gauge fills, and once it's ready, you'll perform your selection. Actions include the standard attack, defend, and use item, but there is also a special attack option. These moves are unleashed via a button-pressing minigame, and the better you perform, the more deadly your attack will be. The party can team up its special attacks for even more damage, and in a pinch, you can also summon comic strip favorites such as Thomas Kemper and Annarchy.

The whole system is very user-friendly, and you get the feeling even from watching a demo that this will be a game almost anyone can pick up and play — anyone, that is, who is ready to handle the Penny Arcade sense of humor. The game stays true to the comic in every way, from art style and presentation to script and dialogue. Any fans who thought that the guys may sell out to make this game need not fear because it's just as subversive and funny as anything else Penny Arcade has ever done. The only way the game could be more authentic would be if Jerry (Tycho) and Mike (Gabe) were sitting in the room with you as you played, cracking wise at their own creation and insulting you every time you did something wrong.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 1 will be available for download this spring on Xbox Live, and a PC version should be hitting store shelves not long after that. While the team wasn't prepared to offer specifics regarding the number of games in the series ("Episode 1" leads us to believe this won't be a one-off affair), this iteration alone is expected to offer eight to 10 hours of gameplay, which is quite meaty for an XBL title. As it stands, those hours are shaping up to be some of the most humorous, enjoyable moments you'll spend playing a game this year.